Coming up with four different plans for redrawing Washington’s 49 legislative and nine congressional districts was a simple enough matter for the four members of the state’s bipartisan Redistricting Commission. And merging those into two plans — one Republican and one Democrat — wasn’t much harder. But arriving at one solution both parties...
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    Before settling down to the small matter of plugging the state’s $2 billion revenue gap, Washington lawmakers are grappling over the question of saving a Wenatchee public facilities district from an expensive default over financing for the troubled Town Toyota Center. On Tuesday, the second day of the special session, members of...
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Washington state lawmakers heard testimony on Monday from individuals representing a long list of public service and education agencies that would be adversely affected by funding reductions being discussed by the Legislature during the special session that opened earlier in the day. In all, more than 160 individuals signed up to tell members of...
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Washington’s House House Ways and Means Committee was less than five minutes into its first budget meeting of the 2011 special session on Monday when protesters disrupted the hearing by serving a “citizens arrest warrant” on the entire Legislature for proposed reductions to education funding. Washington State Patrol troopers escorted several protesters from the...
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The Washington State Legislature convened at noon today in Olympia for a 30-day special session intended to deal with a $1.4 billion difference between projected revenues and the state budget passed by lawmakers last spring. Gov. Christine Gregoire called for the session in September, when it became apparent Washington would not collect as much...
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A day after Gov. Christine Gregoire unveiled a supplemental budget plan whose centerpiece is a half-cent increase in the sales tax over the next three years, reactions from Washington lawmakers ranged from cautious agreement to outright rejection. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) and Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle), who chairs the budget-writing Senate Ways...
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  Less than a month after claiming she hadn’t had time to consider new revenue sources as a way to plug the state’s looming budget gap, Gov. Christine Gregoire on Monday made a temporary, three-year half-cent sales tax increase the centerpiece of her economic strategy. The plan, which would tack an additional one-half cent...
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  The gap between what the Legislature wants to spend and what it will be able to widened by another $122 million during the past two months, according to Washington state’s chief economist. Dr. Arun Raha, making his regular General Fund revenue forecast on Thursday morning, told the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council he...
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  Occupy Olympia protesters on Friday were asked — but not ordered — to voluntarily remove dozens of tents from Heritage Park in the wake of deteriorating conditions at the encampment that included a drug arrest the previous day. Department of Enterprise Services spokesman Steve Valandra said the agency has serious public safety concerns...
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A funny thing happened on the way to this week’s anti-Kemper Freeman Jr. rally: Attendees found themselves overwhelmed by Freeman supporters. Organizers had intended the event, scheduled for Wednesday at the Freeman-owned Bellevue Square Mall, as a show of strength for those who disagree with the prominent developer’s outspoken opposition to light rail and...
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